Blooming Hearts
by naleakem
Summary: Adrien Agreste is conflicted with his battling feelings for both his trusted partner Ladybug and the shy, clumsy girl from school Marinette Dupain-Cheng; Marinette has similar problems, fearing that she might be on the verge of figuring out Chat Noir's identity. This fic may get into puberty, MENSTRUATION MENTION and perhaps slight smut in the future (rating may be changed)


**A/N: Welllcoommmeee! This is my first ML fic, so please mind that I do not know how to write the characters yet, honestly...I'll learn as I go on, I suppose! Reviews are always welcome. This is simply a short prologue explaining Adrien's conflicting feelings without delving too deeply into the idea of him liking both Ladybug and Marinette :)**

 _Enjoy, Darlings ;)_

Adrien was confused. There was no other way to say it. He honestly had no idea what was happening to him. Well, he had a little bit of an idea (for half of it, at least.) That idea came from his memory of only thirty-four minutes before he plopped down onto his bed and tried to gather his thoughts. _Ladybug_. When he watched her, flipping through the air, hanging by only her yo-yo as she approached him, he'd never felt more in love (which is what he said every time he saw Ladybug, but he didn't seem to care.) Not only that, but he also found his arm hanging limply at his side as she swung, staff of no use while she was there. The akuma held his sword above his head, preparing to strike down on Chat Noir standing there, when Ladybug grasped his helmet in her free hand, rolling onto the ground. It would seem normal to anyone else's eye, mostly because it happened so fast and it was normal that Ladybug would be the one to get the actual akuma off of the affected person, but Adrien knew what happened better than they did.

It hit him hard how much he trusted his partner – He felt, in that moment, like the man they fought earlier had impaled him, his own drastically confusing feelings dripping like poison from the blade. The akuma could have very easily cut his skin and he would've been paralyzed. He'd trusted Ladybug so completely that he'd let down all of his guard. Of course, he knew that was a very dangerous asset. Was he not supposed to fall in love with her? Well, not that he could help himself. It was odd how much he loved her. She was graceful and confident, a flame couldn't ever be extinguished: the complete opposite of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He didn't know much about Marinette, but he was learning. She was clumsy and tripped over thin air. Her parents owned a bakery. She was half Chinese. She had lots of friends. Chloé hated her. There was a very high chance Adrien had a crush on her. These were all facts that he had come to accept by now.

Marinette, the girl who sat behind him in class; Marinette, the girl who stuttered and blushed when she talked to him; Marinette, the girl he was _not supposed to have a crush on_. How could he be completely in love with Ladybug if he liked Marinette, too?

That was the confusing part. Adrien honestly thought that he loved Ladybug more than any other person he'd ever met. She teased him and he savored every moment he got to spend with her, his beloved partner. _Partner_. It was a bad idea to date your partner. If things didn't work out between them, what then? Not that he'd ever get a chance to test out that theory, if you could call it a theory.

He groaned aloud, shifting himself onto his side, shoving his cheek into his pillow as his fingers toyed with the grey comforter lying messily on his bed absentmindedly. How could this be happening to him? Two girls. Two separate girls. _Two_. Not one. _TWO_. It hurt him to really think about it. Physically pained him, to be exact. He dearly wanted to give all his care to Ladybug, the way it had been before his heart started pounding very time he was around Marinette. How was he supposed to give all his love to her when a part of him wanted to be with another?

Of course, wallowing like this wasn't going to help with anything.

 _But it's not gonna hurt either_ , thought Adrien smugly as he tried to block out the sound of his kwami wolfing down the camembert he'd given the little black cat once they'd gotten back from the akuma fight. Adrien didn't blame him for being hungry. He would never blame his kwami from being exhausted from fighting. But he also didn't necessarily need to enjoy the sound of a small black cat fairy chowing down on some cheese that had been specially selected for him.

It was even more bothering knowing how camembert cheese can get gooey and smeared on his bed. Plagg had recently decided to demand Adrien allow him bed privileges while eating and, being way too kind, he'd agreed to his kwami's request while ignoring his own underlying reluctance.

Adrien tried a little too hard not to flinch when Plagg took an unusually loud bite, almost slurping, and wrinkled his nose. He shifted once more, this time onto his belly so he could sigh loudly into his pillow, face shoved into the delightfully soft and springy cushion below him that did nothing to ease his confusion. It seemed like nothing really could.


End file.
